An interesting application for EVs and, generally speaking, electric motors is that of heavy transportation. For that purpose, Nissan has equipped a 2-ton truck (the Atlas F24) with the electric drivetrain currently found on the Leaf EV.

The results have been pretty amazing. The e-NT400 Atlas Concept, as they called it, managed to accelerate faster than a similarly-sized diesel truck up to 50 km/h, given its total mass (without a payload) of 2,750 kilograms. For the moment, the e-NT400’s transmission has been fixed on the third speed. The final model will have two speeds: one for low load and one for high load.

“The Leaf’s motor has enough reserve capacity. With empty load, the time it takes to reach the speed of 50km/h is astonishingly short for a truck,” said a Nissan rep.

Of course, they put a bigger battery on it. A 48 kWh lithium ion battery is the tested power storage solution. With that battery, the truck has been able to run for 100 kilometers without recharging.

The motor has been mounted vertically in the new electric truck, unlike in the Leaf, where it’s transversely mounted. The battery sits in the front side of the truck.

Anyway, the e-NT400 is able to carry up to 5 tons. Considering the fact that diesel-powered trucks are highly polluting, an b is welcomed, especially with the rising prices of petroleum.

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About Ovidiu Sandru

Ovidiu has always been a fan of technology and Captain Planet. Unable to ignore the technical possibilities that exist nowadays, he started collecting and blogging about the most interesting news out there and saw that there were a lot of people interested in the same that stuff he was.